00:00Hi, I'm Gordon Ramsay and these are some of the best things I've eaten across the world.
00:08Some of the best foods in the world now is coming out of the UK. I'm going to go curry.
00:14It was something I grew up with. I think this country now has some of the best Indian restaurants
00:19anywhere in the world and we have two star Michelin curry houses now and I'm so pleased
00:24and it's only a matter of time before we have our first three star curry house here in the UK.
00:29It's down to that amazing melting pot and the multi-layered, multicultural environment we live in.
00:35I'm a big, big, big fan of Brick Lane. I grew up in the West Midlands in Birmingham.
00:42The community that Brick Lane gives off takes me back to Birmingham, so Brick Lane all day long.
00:50The USA, that's a big country, 50 states, 50 incredible states. I want to go Texas because of the
01:04incredible beef. Texas is like a standalone country on its own. It's vast, it's barren and I've done some
01:11incredible hunting there. Again another melting pot, multicultural and some of the quality of
01:19ingredients is just second to none. I've eaten some of the best beef in the world in Texas and then I
01:26think of places like Austin, Texas and just how charming and rustic the food is. It's incredible,
01:33really incredible. France for me was the backbone of my career. France was humbling. Going to work in
01:48Paris in one of the best restaurants in the world under Guy Savoy and Joe Robuchon at 22 years of age
01:54was a gift. It was an incredible gift. I got lost in France. I became French. When I spoke French,
02:00they asked me whereabouts in France do I come from? I was that obsessed with really understanding
02:05not just haute cuisine but bistro cooking, slow braising, slow roasting, cuisine legere where
02:14everything was aerated and light. I would be in the middle of service as a 22 year old cook and
02:21we'd run out of asparagus and I'd get sent to the market in front of the restaurant to hand pick this
02:27incredible asparagus and the produce is as good for the locals as it is for the restaurants. It's the
02:33same standard whether you're buying produce to cook at home or eating in a restaurant. It's that good
02:40everywhere. Excitement about French cuisine is the regions. Whether you're in the Pays Basque,
02:46Loire Valley, whether you're in Burgundy or whether you're in Brittany, there is something magical that
02:53comes from France every time you visit it. I lived there for three years. I lived in the Rue La Roquette
02:59in the 11th arrondissement in La Bastille. There's a beautiful little bistro on the top of the Rue Saint-Sebain
03:04and there's a little bistro that's still there today. That's my go-to comfort. It's opposite La Bastille
03:11Opera House where I saw Carmen for the first time years ago and then off for a steak frites.
03:23Oh man, if there was one place I would move to tomorrow, I'll be honest, is India. I fell in
03:30love with that place over 25 years ago when I was fortunate enough to cook at an incredible
03:35wedding in Rajasthan and then I spent time in Nagaland and I finished off in an ashram
03:42in southern Kerala, the land of spice. There's a fragrance and a history that is unique and I think
03:52I perfected my vegetarian cuisine after my time in India because the ashram I went to live in and
03:59work in was some of the best vegetarian food I've ever eaten in my entire life and they took the humble
04:07chickpea to a whole new level. There's just something magnetising walking the streets of Mumbai and the
04:13hustle and the bustle. Now having a restaurant in India takes me back there quicker than you know.
04:20I've spent two weeks on the streets in Mumbai sampling some of the best street food anywhere
04:25in the world. You know the doses are incredible. Breakfast is this spice magic that just captivates
04:34you and even in you know intense heat with high temperatures you're still excited about eating
04:40spicy food so I'll go back there tomorrow if I could. Spain took over the sort of culinary hot spots
04:53in my mind 20 years ago. I'm not saying France sat on their laurels but Spain got recognised at the
05:03right time. I fell in love with Galifia years ago. The beef again is incredible, the shellfish
05:09extraordinary. Diving in some of those waters off the west coast of Spain. I had my first experience
05:17with the sea barnacles, the Petves, the tiny little tapas bars in the old town of Barcelona to some of the
05:23Michelin style restaurants in Madrid to some of the best wine in the world with Vega Sicilia being produced
05:30in Spain. So Spain for me is in my top five culinary countries in the world.
05:41Vietnam. I was blown away. In fact I had tears in my eyes when I left Vietnam. I didn't want to come
05:47home. I enjoyed it that much. I was fortunate enough to float down the Mekong Delta with a family
05:53that was harvesting crocodiles. And the markets were exceptional. Watching families go to the markets twice
06:02a day for fresh ingredients was mind-blowing. When you see the hustle and the bustle of those local
06:09markets, fish market, meat market, vegetable markets, the produce is incredible. And the good news is it stays there. It's not exported.
06:17And so their eating habits are some of the best in the world because it's grown locally, sourced locally,
06:26and it's not food that's been spoiled with major influences. Vietnam, Vietnamese cuisine stands alone
06:34and it's freaking iconic. I love it. I did a slow cooked braised pork belly with noodles that
06:41this pork belly was cooked over embers in this clay pot for 12 hours. And it was this sort of melt-in-your-mouth
06:49moment. Whilst the pork was cooking, the broth was simmering away equally for 12 hours. And I then jumped in
06:56this tiny little skiff, this little boat, and started selling it to local fishermen. It was one of the most
07:03inspirational moments of my culinary career.
07:11Oh boy. I was blown away when I went to spend some time in Oaxaca. I love Mexican cuisine. I love what
07:21it stands for. I love the rustic charm. But I thought I understood how to make a mole. And I got
07:29schooled, man. Honestly, I got absolutely torn apart. Prior to visiting Mexico, mastering a mole,
07:35I was spending up to sort of four or five hours making it. My first day in Oaxaca, I spent 11 hours
07:41perfecting a mole. It took me back to almost like being back at college. It was that instrumental.
07:49And then you think of the unfussy style, whether you're eating a beautiful taco, or whether you're
07:58eating a braised short rib, there's something quite unique. And then the chocolate that's produced
08:03in Mexico is some of the best chocolate anywhere in the world. So I love Mexico.
08:14I fell in love with Australia because of the uniqueness in their cuisine. Produce-led. I
08:22couldn't quite believe the standard of fish, shellfish, lamb, beef. It was incredible. They
08:34produce some of the best whiskey in the world in Tassie. There's more whiskey distilleries per square
08:39mile in Tasmania than anywhere else in the world. But what I was blown away with was the spiny
08:45lobsters. These things were like four foot long. And I went diving there. And it was in the middle of
08:52the Great White Highway. And I'm bedding down in amongst all this kelp. I'm on aerated tanks from
09:00the boat. And it's the first time I'd spotted a great white shark. And I just stayed calm. I had my
09:07hand on the spiny lobster. And I thought, I've got the prized asset. I'm about to be eaten by a great
09:13white. I put my tummy on top of the spiny lobster. I laid down on the kelp. And I waited for this
09:1912, 14 foot great white shark past me. I got up on the boat. And I said to my dive buddy,
09:29did you see the size of that shark? He said, no. Are you talking about the juvenile,
09:35the baby great white? I'm like, oh my God, that's the baby one. So yeah, Tasmania all day long.
09:41Oh man, Morocco. There is something quite uplifting at the Medina. The energy, it's like,
09:53I don't know if you've ever gone surfing. But the energy that the ocean gives off, this is what these
09:57food markets do for me, the Medina. The Berber mountains and what they stand for. How barren, how
10:04tough the environment is, it always produces incredible food. I never had tasted camel before
10:12going to Morocco. And I was a little bit skeptical because of the amount of times I've ridden a camel.
10:18I had one of the best camel braised dishes I've ever eaten in my entire life. There's something
10:25humbling about the overuse of spice and what they do with it and how they cook and just the open fire
10:36coolness. They want for nothing. They cook some of the best food in the world.
10:47South Africa for me was like going to cook in the Wild West. I fell in love with South Africa years ago
10:54when I started running the ultra marathons called Comrades. I would start at Peterbritzburg and go
10:59to Durban. One year it would be uphill, next year it would be downhill. I'd go through all those amazing
11:04little towns, Pine Town, Polly Shorts, and climb these incredible hills and then feast on some of the
11:11best braai, the best barbecues in the world. The fish markets in Durban are incredible because the
11:18produce is in abundance. It's exciting traveling to Durban because there's no jet lag. We're on the same
11:22time zone but our winter is their summer and so it's a perfect destination to disappear from the UK
11:30to Durban in the middle of winter and embellish their incredible, wonderful summers.
11:41Denmark is almost like the sleeping beauty of the culinary world because that whole Scandinavian
11:47respect is second to none. Denmark have got it right in terms of what they produce. It is
11:55an inspiration beyond belief and I started focusing on Scandinavia 20 years ago and that lightness,
12:04the fermentations, the pickling, the marinades but again the produce second to none and again the better
12:12ingredient, the little it needs to do to it. I think the exact thing about Denmark for me is the
12:17destinational restaurants, especially out in the forest, so therapeutic. We've been lucky enough to
12:24captivate magic with some Michelin-style chefs that are on this incredible journey and the surroundings
12:29are serene, calm, the environment is friendly, sustainable and what they stand for is just ethically
12:38clean. It's the sort of, it's the perfect foodie world, no waste, incredibly green, sustainable but magical.
12:51A dream food destination that you're yet to visit, it's going to be South America, it's going to be
12:56Sao Paulo, Brazil. We have such an amazing draw in Brazil, I can't wait to go there. Everyone talks about
13:05the sort of Portuguese influence and the crossover with the sort of Spanish and the French influence,
13:10so Brazil is next.
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